Photography Blog by Rhonda Budden
These delightful little Pale Headed Rosellas are quite shy, making them somewhat more difficult to capture than their bolder more confident cousins, the Easterns. Both were regular visitors to our garden in Caloundra, attracted by the Grevilleas and Golden Pendas planted around the pool. As such they were a captive audience for camera and tripod set up on our deck.
Lake Bindagolly near Cunnamulla in central Queensland is a truly magical place if you’re fortunate to be there when it has lots of water.
Lake Bindagolly near Cunnamulla in central Queensland is a truly magical place if you’re fortunate to be there when it has lots of water. The variety of extent of the bird life is extraordinary. Some early morning and evening expeditions netted these Crested Grebes feeding their chicks with what appear to be yabbies. The chicks were a bit difficult to identify tucked into their parents’ feathers but when we stopped to see them on our return journey we were fascinated to watch their efforts to swim a little then climb back onto their cozy ride. Whether it was a happy coincidence of peak breeding season or just a case of wildlife making the best of the bountiful conditions who can say, but certainly our timing was perfect and witnessing this amazing revival of life was an immensely rewarding start to our journey.
O’Reilly’s on the Lamington Plateau in Queensland is a bird lover’s mecca. The fact that so many come in to be fed obviously makes the photographer’s job much easier than tracking them down in the wild. Is it cheating? Maybe, but then if the pros resort to getting some of their best shots in reserves or sanctuaries then surely the amateur is well and truly justified in doing so?
Kookaburras are plentiful in the Victorian High Country. They are obviously used to people, to the extent they could be hand fed. The sight of them warming themselves over the campfire was really entertaining. At Fry’s Flat even others like the satin bowerbirds and crimson Rosellas were less wary than would normally be the case.
As mentioned in our ‘Magic of Coongie Lakes’ trip blog, while we were fishing at the Cooper Creek section of the lakes the Little Corellas appeared like clockwork at the same time every day. They took it in turns to keep watch while their mate had a drink then cozied up together in their little nooks in the river gums above us.
The ubiquitous pelicans are ever present on the Cooper and this one was all set to take flight with the approach of Hobie kayak complete with photographer.
On our way from Cania Gorge we stopped at a free campsite near Gayndah. Umbrella trees in full flower were highly attractive to a number of different birds including these beautiful Scarlet Honey Eaters.
This delightful little Rose Robin was an interesting find during a weekend at the beautiful Bunya Mountains – another bird lover’s mecca.
We enjoy a great variety of birds at our property in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. The Black-Faced Cuckoo Shrike is a regular visitor, as are the Blue Faced Honeyeaters and Little Friarbirds. The colourful Forest Kingfisher is an occasional visitor.
Camera equipment – Canon 5D Mark II & the majority with Canon 500mm f.4 lens. Just a few use the Canon 70-200 f.2.8 with 2 x extender.